Amazon buying into nappy business
AMAZON.COM is expected to buy the parent company of Diapers.com for $540m (£333.5m) to $545m, according to media reports.
The deal is set to be announced today, according to a report on Fortune magazine’s website over the weekend.
The acquisition comes as Amazon has stepped up its efforts to boost its babycare products business.
In September, Amazon launched its Amazon Mom program, offering perks like three-months of free two-day shipping. Amazon also offered a 30 per cent discount on diapers and wipes to consumers who signed up for its Subscribe & Save programme for consumable items.
Diapers.com, which launched in 2005, is owned by New Jersey-based Quidsi, which also owns Soap.com, and is backed by venture capital firms Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners and New Enterprise Associates, among others.
Amazon and Quidsi did not return emails for comment.
Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has been expanding product lines as it tries to get more of its shoppers to sign up for subscription programs, which the company says fosters loyalty to the site.
In 2009, Amazon acquired online shoe retailer Zappos.com for roughly $1.1 billion.
A separate report in the Wall Street Journal on Sunday said that Amazon will pay $500 million in cash and $45 million in debt and other liabilities for Quidsi, whose management will remain with Amazon.